Basal Cell Ameloblastoma: Report of a Rare Case with Review of Literature

ABSTRACT

Ameloblastoma is a benign tumour of odontogenic epithelial origin with several histological variants comprising of follicular, plexiform, acanthomatous, desmoplastic, granular cell and basal cell types. Basal cell ameloblastoma (BCA) is the rarest histologic subtype in which the tumour is composed of numerous odontogenic epithelial islands supported by fibrous connective tissue stroma. It exhibits variations in the clinical course and histological features compared with the classic type of ameloblastoma. Till date, only 11 cases of BCA have been reported in the literature. Considering the rarity of the lesion, we report here a unique case of BCA occurring in the 8th decade with review of the literature of this rare variant.